High-Speed DUI Offender Gets 13 Years

JOLIET, IL (STMW) — A southwest suburban man, who was driving drunk at over 100 mph when he caused a crash that killed two passengers in his car, was sentenced Thursday to 13 years in prison.

Scott A. Rossow, 27, of Palos Heights was found guilty by Associate Judge Edward Burmila of four counts of aggravated DUI following an eight-day bench trial that ended Nov. 29, 2009, according to a release from the Will County State’s Attorney’s office.

Rossow was driving a Corvette in excess of 100 mph near the intersection of Francis and Town Line Roads in Mokena in the early-morning hours of Dec. 8, 2006, when he lost control and the car slammed into a tree, the release aid.

Rossow and passengers Christopher Sommers and David Sauseda were all ejected from the vehicle, the release said. Sommers was a friend of Rossow and Sauseda was a relative.

Rossow’s blood-alcohol level was .127 at the time, though his attorney argued at trial that he was not driving. Charges were filed in 2008 after reviews of accident reconstruction reports, the release said.

“This was a horrific and senseless collision caused by a drunken driver whose irresponsible actions resulted in the deaths of two men,” State’s Atty. James Glasgow said in the release.

“The investigation and prosecution of this case was complicated by the fact that everyone, including the defendant, was ejected from the vehicle. However, fine work by police in the field…left no doubt that Scott Rossow was the driver in this high-speed DUI crash,” Glasgow said.

Rossow had been arrested and charged with narcotics trafficking in Kentucky in October 2010 while awaiting trial in the aggravated DUI case, the release said.